Israel Matzav

Haaretz goes wild: Small right wing journal editor calls to try Olmert and Livni for treason

Haaretz is going nuts because the editor of a small, right wing academic journal has called for the trial of Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Feigele Livni on charges of treason for negotiating on the future of Jerusalem. Treason in wartime is punishable by death under Israeli law, but that sentence has never been carried out (the only execution this country ever carried out was that of Adolph Eichmann).

"Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, who are leading open negotiations over the handing over of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, must according to international law and guidelines on treason be sentenced to death," Aryeh Stav, editor of Nativ said on Sunday.

In response to a questionnaire submitted by Haaretz, Stav said "statesmen who hold negotiations to hand over control of their capital is something that simply does not take place any where in the world."

Stav added that in Israel, "the laws on this matter are clear, but no one enforces them or makes sure that the criminals who violate these laws are prosecuted."

This is not the first time that Stav has called for trying Israeli politicians for treason. He (and others) made the same call in the early part of this decade after the Oslo 'peace process' collapsed into the Oslo Terror War.

According to Aryeh Stav, head of the Ariel Institute for Strategic Studies, and editor of Nativ, an academic journal, "in a properly run state, these people would be put on trial," but "since Israel is not properly run," there won't be a trial. "The rules of the game developed in Israel are pathological," he says. "All the prime ministers broke the law regarding the Golan. According to the law against treason, they should have been thrown into jail for life or executed. A gang like Peace Now would be considered traitors in a properly run country, but there's no point in putting them on trial because they do express the views of the majority."

Oslo, adds Stav, "was inherently illegal. It's the closest thing to a junta. The law defines the PLO as a terror organization and says anyone who engages in negotiations with it should get 15 years in jail. That law is still on the books, but everyone is silent."

Stav's use of the term "treason" is relatively unique, but there is a debate in the right about the term criminal." Haetzni says "those who made Oslo are criminals, in the public sense of the term, even if not in the technical sense."

For the record, under the Israeli Penal Law, four acts are defined as treason:

1. The category of acts which "impair the sovereignty" of the State of Israel section 97(a);
2. The category of acts which "impair the integrity" of the State of Israel - section 97(b);
3. The category of acts under section 99 that give assistance to an "enemy" in war against Israel, which the Law specifically states includes a terrorist organization;
4. The category of acts in section 100, which evince an intention or resolve to commit one of the acts prohibited by sections 97 and 99.

The punishment prescribed in the Penal Law for the first three kinds of acts of treason is death or imprisonment for life. The harshness of the punishment emphasizes the seriousness with which the State of Israel views the crime of treason, which it seeks to prevent by the punishment it imposes upon offenders.

So is Stav's call to try Olmert and Livni for treason so radical? Of course not. Because we know that Olmert and Livni aren't negotiating the future of Jerusalem. After all, if they were, Shas would no longer be in the government. Just ask Eli Yishai.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:17 PM